Why Were The Rockers Never WWF Tag Team Champions? Blame Jack Tunney

Years ago, we talked a little about the time the Rockers won the WWF tag titles but never officially won them. In that post, I talked about how strange the story was and how difficult it was to sort out what exactly happened there. But now there’s a new rundown of the situation pieced together from a few different sources that tries its best to explain it all.

Basically, everything in my old post comes up. The broken rope, the possibility of behind the scenes maneuvering, the firing that didn’t end up happening. And then there’s this, which just makes the whole thing even weirder if it’s true.

Vince McMahon called.
Marty answered, and Vince told him that they were going to take away their tag team titles. That was quite newsworthy, as it’s extremely rare in wrestling history when a title changed hands but it was ignored before the match aired on television.
But that wasn’t the funny part.
Vince then proceeded to quote Marty an old rule in some rulebook, and then said JACK TUNNEY wasn’t going to sanction the match.
Yes, Jack Tunney. The FIGUREHEAD WWF President (in the role of what would today be called the GM), who only the fans at home believed had any power. Vince was kayfabing his own wrestlers, pretending that Jack Tunney had any power at all and that he was really the President, when everyone with a brain knew Tunney had no real power and was just playing a role on television.

He also told Marty that he doesn’t want to air a match with no rope. Marty was in shock that Vince expected him to believe that was the real reason and that he involved Jack Tunney’s name. He told Vince he wanted Shawn to hear this, so Shawn got on the phone too. Marty and Shawn looked at each other and said to themselves, “Bullsh*t!”

Of course, there’s always a chance that things didn’t quite go down that way. Wrestlers, especially ones who party as much as Marty Jannetty did, don’t always have the closest relationship with either facts or an accurate memory. But crazy as it sounds, I think I might believe this one. Having heard other stories told by Jannetty, it really does seem that he’s got quite a memory for details. Plus I can’t think of a single reason why he’d lie about it, and you’re not convincing me that Vince McMahon isn’t crazy enough to at least try putting something like that over on someone.

We may never know exactly what went on, but this sure does add a hilarious layer to an already odd set of circumstances.